Fabric and process of producing it



Patented Dec. 11, 1945 UNITED STATES FABRIC AND PROCESS OF PRODUCING H.

William H. von Glalm. Loudonville, and William L. Walsh, East Greenbnsh, N. Y., asslgnors to General Aniline & Film Corporation, New York, N. Y.,- a corporation of Delaware No Drawing.

17 Claims.

The invention relates to a method of producing a fabric which is partially or entirely destructible. The partially destructible fabric may -be designed to produce a fabric having pattern effects therein.

The fabric which is entirely destructible, may for example, be used as a support or background fabric in the manufacture of embroidery.

An object of the invention is to devise a new and simplified method of producing a fabric of yarns at least some or all of 'which are vegetable, artificial or silk, and at least a portion of which is rendered friable or destructible.

Another object is to obtain a simplified method of producing pattern effects upon fabric composed in part or in whole of vegetable, artificial or silk yarns by treatment of the fabric to render some portions of the yarn destructible. Th'ese friable portions-are then removed, leaving the remaining yam of the fabric to form the pattern efiects desired.

A further object of the invention is to produce a yarn or fabric treated by the method to be de-*,

scribed which is stable on storage under ordinary conditions of temperature and moisture.

Pattern effects upon fabric containing yarns of vegetable origin have been produced before by various processes. Among th'em are processes which involve treatment of the fabric or yarn with free acids or nitrating agents. These methads have serious disadvantages in that they result in corrosion of the equipment and lack of complete stability of the impregnated fiber. Another process utilizes easily hydrolyzed inorganic salts, such as aluminum chloride or sulfate to render the yarn friable under heat in those portions of the fabric not protected by an alkaline paste subsequently applied. This process produces an impregnated yarn and cloth which cannot be stored for any length of time due to hydrolysis of the inorganic salts and consequent premature destruction of the fiber.-

The process for producing a fabric in accordance with the present invention is applicable to vegetable, artificial and silk fibers'or fibers of vegetable origin. The term vegetable fibers" as used in this specification and the appended claims includes not only cotton and the like, but also fibers of vegetable origin,-such as rayon. The term "artificial fibers is intended to include such well-known materials as acetate silk. Wool is definitely excluded from the scope of any of these terms. The fabric need not necessarily be entirely of yarns from such fibers, although in the preferred fabric it is proposed to manufacture the fabric entirely therefrom. Because of their low cost, yarns of cotton or cotton origin will probably be most frequently used in practicing this invention.

The invention consists in its first step in treat- Applicatlon February 25, 1942, Serlal No. 432,304

ing the vegetable, artificial or silk yarns with a solution of sulfuric acid salt of an organic base. It is obvious that only such salts can be used for the purpose of our invention which are readily soluble in water. The yarn th'us treated is woven into fabric or for the production of patterned effects is woven with yarn which has not been so treated. The fabric in either case is then printed with a paste containing an alkali such as sodium 10 ment at a temperature of about 320 F. In those sections of the fabric, not covered by the alkali, decomposition of the organic base sulfate absorbed on the yarn takes place, apparently liberating sulfuric acid which disintegrates the yarn or renders it friable.

The friable or disintegratable yarn produced in the fabric is removed by pounding, crushing brushing or any other suitable means. This leaves the fabric with pattern effects in which the yarns of the fabric in certain portions thereof ar closely wovenand in other portions some or all of the yarns have been removed. A net or open-work effect corresponding with the pattern printed on with the alkali paste is thereby produced.

Th process of producing a fabric described above may also be used to produce background and supporting fabric in the manufacture of embroidery. In these cases the same steps are performed with the exception that all the yarns are impregnated with a sulfuric acid salt of an organic base. The desired pattern effect is then obtained by protecting with alkali certain portions of the 35 fabric and subsequently heating the fabric.

An entirely destructible fabric is made by making it wholly of cotton, rayon, acetate silk or silk or of any mixture of said fibers with one another, and treating said fibers, either before or after 4 weaving, with a solution of the sulfuric acid salt of an organic base. The fabric can be rendered entirely friable by omitting the printing step with alkali paste and heating it.

As examples of organic .bases the sulfates of which are suitable for our purpose we cite:

1. Primary, secondary or tertiary alkyl, aralkyl,

or aryl amines and polyamines.

2. Primary, secondary or tertiary cyclohexylamines.

3. Secondary or tertiary amines in which the nitrogen atom is part of a ring system such as pyridine, piperidine or morpholine.

but are not to'be regarded as limiting the scope of its application:

carbonate, dried and subjected to a heat treat- Example 1 Cotton yarn is impregnated with a 40% solution of triethanolamine sulfate. The impregnated yarn is dried and interwoven with white cotton yarn. The fabric so produced is overprinted with a thickened gum paste containing 20% caustic soda solution 40 B. After drying at about 100 F., the goods are subjected to a heat treatment at about 320 F. for several minutes, i. e. until the impregnated fibers not covered with paste are rendered friable. The carbonized cotton particles are then brushed out. The final treatment consists in rinsing in cold water, bleaching with chlorine and soaping.

Example 2 Rayon fiber yarn is impregnated with 50% aqueous solution of 2- amido-'2-methyl-1-propano1 sulfate and the yarn treated as in Example 1.

Example 3' Cotton fabric is impregnated with a 40-50% solution of morpholine sulfate and treated as in Example 1.

Example 4,

A mixed cotton-rayon fabric is impregnated with a 40-50% solution of the sulfate of ethylene diamine and treated as in Example 1.

Example 5 Cotton yarn is impregnated with a solution of cyclohexylamine sulfate and treated as in Example 1.

Example 6 Cotton yarn is impregnated with a solution of benzylamine sulfate and treated as in Example 1.

Fxample 7 Cotton yarn is impregnated with a, solution of dimethylaniline sulfate and treated as in Exam- 1318 1. r

Example 8 A mixed cotton-cellulose acetate fabric is impregnated with a 40-50% solution of morpholine sulfate and treated as in Example 1. The unprotected parts of the cotton as well 'as of the cellulose acetate are rendered friable.

Example 9 3. A process of producing a fabric which is stable on storage but which may be disintegrated at least in part by heating, which comprises treating a fabric comprising yarn selected from the group consisting of vegetable fibers, artificial n. bers of vegetable origin and silk with a solution of a sulfuric acid'salt of an organic base to impregnate at least a part of said yarn therewith and drying the thus-treated fabric at a temperature below that at which said salt is decomposed.

4. A process which comprises treating yarn selected from the group consisting of vegetable ii- 5 bers, artificial fibers of vegetable origin and silk with a solution of a sulfuric acid saltof an organic base to impregnate at least part of said yarn therewith, weaving said yarn into a fabric, applying an alkaline paste to said fabric to coat a part of said fabric therewith drying said yarn at a temperature below that at which said salt is decomposed, heating said fabric to a temperature at which said salt is decomposed until the uncoated portion of said yarn impregnated with said salt is rendered friable and removing from the fabric such friable yarn.

5. Aprocess which comprises treating a fabric comprising yarn selected from the group consisting of vegetable fibers, artificial fibers of vegetable origin and silk with a solution of a sulfuric acid salt of an organic base to impregnate at least a part of said fabric therewith, applying an alkaline paste to said fabric to coat a part of said fabric therewith drying said fabric, heating said fabric to a temperature at which said salt is decomposed until the uncoated portion .of said yarn impregnated with said salt is rendered friable and removing from the fabric such friable yarn.

6. Fabric comprising yarn selected from the group consisting of vegetable fibers, artificial fibers of vegetable origin and silk impregnated with a sufiicient amount of a sulfuric acid salt of an organic base as to render said yarn friable on heating.

7. Fabric comprising yarn selected from the group consisting of vegetable fibers, artificial fibers of vegetable origin and silk impregnated with a suflicient amount of a sulfuric acid salt of anorganic base as to render said yarn friable on heating and coated in part with an alkaline paste.

8. A process for producing cotton which is stable on storage but which may be decomposed by heating, which comprises treating material comprising cotton with a solution of a sulfuric acid salt of an organic base to impregnate at least part of said cotton therewith and drying the thustreated cotton at a temperature below that at which said salt is decomposed.

9. A process for producing cotton fabric which is stable on storage but which may be decomposed prising a yarn selected from the group consisting at least in part by heating, which comprises treating yarn selected from the group consisting of vegetable fibers, artificial fibers of vegetable origin.

and silk with a solution of a sulfuric acid salt of an organic base to impregnate at least part of said yarn therewith, weaving said yarn into a fabric and drying said yarn at a temperature below that at which said salt is decomposed.

at least in part by heatin which comprises treating cotton with a solution of a sulfuric acid salt of an organic base to impregnate at least part of said cotton therewith, weaving said cotton into a, fabric and drying said cotton at a temperature below that at which said salt is decomposed.

10. A process for producing a cotton fabric which is stable on storage but which may be decomposed by heating, which comprises treating a fabric comprising cotton with a solution of a 5m.

furic acid salt of an organic base to'impregnate at least a part of said cotton therewith and drying said fabric at a temperature below that at which said salt is decomposed.

11. A process which comprises treating material comprising cotton with a solution of a sulfuric acid salt of an organic base to impregnate at least a part of said cotton therewith, applying an alkaline paste to said cotton to coat a part of said cotton therewith drying the thus treated cotton, heating said material to a temperature at which said salt is decomposed until the uncoated portion of said cottom impregnated with said salt is rendered friable and removing from thematerial such friable cotton.

12. Fabric comprising cotton impregnated with a sufiicient amount of a sulfuric acidsalt of an organic base as to render said impregnated cotton friable on heating.

13. Fabric comprising cotton impregnated with a sufiicient amount of a sulfuric acid salt of an organic base as to render said impregnated cotton friable on heating and coated in part with an alkaline paste.

14. A process for producing rayon which is starayon therewith and drying the thus-treated rayon at a temperature below that at which said salt is decomposed.

15. A process for producing acetate silk which is stable on storage but maybe decomposed by heating, which comprises treating material comprising acetate silk with a solution of a sulfuric acid salt of an organic base to impregnate at least part of said acetate silk therewith and drying the thus-treated acetate silk at a temperature below that at which said salt is decomposed.

16. Fabric comprising rayon impregnated with a sufiicient amount of a sulfuric acid salt of an organic base as to render said impregnated rayon friable on heating.

1'7. Fabric'comprising acetate silk impregnated with a sufilcient amount of a sulfuric acid salt of an organic base as to render said impregnated acetate silk friable on heating.

WILLIAM H. VON GLAHN.

WILLIAM L. WALSH. 

